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Why Routine Maintenance is Important for Your Rental Property

Routine repairs and maintenance for your rental property is key to retaining high-quality tenants and avoiding major property repairs and costs.

If you’re looking for a way to make your tenants happy while saving money on your rental property in the long run, routine maintenance is the key. Repairs and maintenance for your rental property can help keep your property in good condition and make it attractive to existing and future renters. Retaining high-quality renters is easier when your property is up-to-date, and everything is working correctly. 

In addition to retaining good tenants and attracting new ones, keeping your rental property maintained helps to preserve and increase its value. Performing regular maintenance also prevents the need for major costly repairs.

You know you need to perform regular property maintenance, but what are the necessary tasks? 

Air Filter Replacement

HVAC air filters should be changed or cleaned once every three months, or at least twice a year. If the air filter becomes too dirty, it creates poor air quality and makes the unit work harder. Worse yet, neglecting this task for too long could cause the unit to break down, forcing you to replace the system entirely. 

Regular Exterminations

Pests and insects may harm your rental property in more than one way. Pesky termites can cause costly damage. Also, tenants will not be happy in a home filled with insects such as roaches and spiders. Professional exterminators should be called to your property at least once a year.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector Tests

Making sure detectors in your property are working properly and have sufficient battery power is of utmost importance. It ensures the safety of your tenants and may help prevent a fire.

Water Heater Draining

Water heaters tend to have sediment buildup, which causes the unit to not work efficiently and may cause damage. To avoid purchasing a new water heater for your rental property, you should have the water heater drained at least once a year. 

bathroom interior

Bathroom Re-caulking

To prevent leaks and mold growth, the showers, baths, and sinks in your rental property should be inspected at least yearly. If there are cracks or breaks, you need to replace the caulk soon. Damage caused by water leaks and mold can be very expensive to fix.

Gutter Cleaning

Clogged gutters can cause costly damage to your rental property’s roof. Also, the water and debris build-up in gutters may attract undesirable pests. Gutters should be cleaned at least twice a year.

Inspections Catch Problems Before They Become Too Costly

Some appliances and devices need to be inspected regularly to ensure that you don’t run into major problems down the road. Here is a list of regular inspections that should be performed at your rental property:

  • HVAC Inspection
  • Fire Extinguisher Inspection
  • Plumbing System Inspection
  • Exterior and Roof Inspection
  • Basement Inspection

How to Prepare For Repairs and Maintenance for your Rental

Now that you have an idea of the regular repairs for your rental property and a list of regular inspections, you will need to have a plan and an idea of the costs for these routine tasks. 

1. Determine Annual Maintenance Costs

There are three methods landlords use to calculate rental property maintenance costs. The 1% method assumes that the annual cost of maintaining a rental would equal approximately 1% of the property’s value. In the 50% method, you would set aside 50% of the income of your property for maintenance. Lastly, the square footage method suggests that you would spend about $1 per square foot every year to maintain the property.

2. Have Reliable Contractors on Call

Perhaps you have the skills to complete a few of the maintenance tasks on your own, but some may be beyond your skill level. It is important to have a list of trustworthy contractors that can perform rental property maintenance services.

3. Plan a Schedule

After considering all the routine maintenance tasks that need to be completed and what time of year works best for each, you need to communicate with your tenant to plan a schedule that works for them and for you.

You're on Your Way to Saving Money and Keeping Quality Tenants

Following a regular rental maintenance checklist and schedule has proven to help retain and attract quality tenants, which saves you time and money. Be sure to communicate with your tenant about regular maintenance and inspections and come up with a plan that works best for both parties.

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Hi, I’m Olivia with GoodLife and today we’re going to talk about routine maintenance. Repairs in maintenance for your rental property can help keep your property in good condition and make it attractive to existing in future renters. Retaining high quality renters is easier when your property is up to date and everything is working correctly. In addition to retaining good tenants and attracting new ones, keeping your rental property maintained helps to preserve and increase its value. Retaining regular maintenance also prevents the need for major costly repairs. In this video, we’ll go over the task that you need to complete to keep your property in great shape. Before we go ahead and get started, be sure to give this video a like and subscribe to our channel for more awesome content like this. First, let’s talk about the importance of inspections. Routinely inspecting your property is the easiest way to catch any issues and determine which repairs are necessary. You should inspect the entire rental property at least once a year. First, let’s review the main things you should complete as part of your routine maintenance checklist. First, the air filter replacement. HVAC filters should be changed or cleaned once every three to six months. If the air filter becomes too dirty, it creates poor air quality and makes the unit work harder. Worse yet, neglecting this task for too long could cause the unit to break down or seeing it replace the system entirely. Next, regular exterminations. No exterminator should be called to your property at least once a year. Test and insects may harm your rental property in more than one way. Pesky termites can cause costly damage, and tenants won’t be happy in a home that’s filled with insects like roaches or spiders. Next, you’ll want to inspect the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Making sure these detectors and your property are working properly and have sufficient battery power is of the utmost importance. This should be done at least once a year. It ensures the safety of your tenants and will help prevent a fire. Now let’s move on to the water heater. Water heaters tend to have sediment buildup which causes the unit to not work efficiently and may cause damage. To avoid purchasing a new water heater for your rental property, you should have the water heater drained at least once a year. Now let’s go over to the bathroom. To prevent leaks and mold growth, the shower’s baths and sinks in your rental property should be inspected yearly. If there are cracks or breaks, you need to replace the coxoon. Damage caused by water leaks and mold can be very expensive to fix. Now we’ll move on to gutter cleaning. Clogged gutters can cause costly damage to your rental properties room. The water and debris buildup in gutters may attract undesirable pests as well. These should be cleaned at least twice a year. Now that you have an idea of the regular repairs that you need to do for your rental property and a list of those regular inspections, you should make a plan to complete it. The first step is to determine annual maintenance costs. There are a couple different methods that landlord use to calculate rental property maintenance costs. The 1% method assumes that the annual cost of maintaining a rental will equal approximately 1% of the property’s value. The other common method is to set aside one month’s rent for your yearly maintenance. Next, you’ll want to create a list of reliable contractors. Perhaps you have the skills to complete a few of these maintenance tasks on your own, but some may be beyond your skill level. It’s important to have a trustworthy list of contractors that can perform these maintenance services for you. This will be extremely helpful in the event of an emergency or during busy season as well. After considering all the maintenance tasks that need to be down on your property and what time of year works best for you, you should also communicate with your tenants to make that schedule and work with them. And that wraps up today’s video. Following a routine maintenance checklist and schedule has proven to help retain and attract quality tenants, which saves you time and money. I’m Olivia and we’ll see you next time.